Former Syrian VP: Protests will topple Assad

President Bashar Al-Assad's violent crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Syria will eventually lead to his overthrow, former vice president Abdelhalim Khaddam said in remarks published on Thursday.

Khaddam, who fled to Paris in 2005 after nearly 20 years as vice president, also told Egypt's Al-Shorouk newspaper he expected the Syrian army to stop supporting Assad and end "the sectarian strife he and his family are instigating".(Reuters)